Let's Play The Proust Questionnaire with Kate Linstrom of objets trouvés!

I thought The Proust Questionnaire would be a fitting (and fun) interview format for fellow Francophile Kate Linstrom, the designer behind the label objets trouvés. You can check out Kate's exquisitely intricate styles for sale at Le Train Bleu and visit her own site to learn more.

• What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Confinement. Having basic freedoms taken away and being monitored every hour of your life would be insufferable.

• Where would you like to live?
Paris (specifically in Le Marais district).


• What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Lifelong friends.

• To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Trying to squeeze too many things into one day.

• Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye) and Bernard Mickey Wrangle, an outlaw bomber known as the Woodpecker in Still Life with Woodpecker.

• Who are your favorite characters in history?
Cleopatra

• Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
Joan of Arc’s story is incredible.

• Your favorite painter?
Ooh this is a tough one, too many to choose from!
I love the usual suspects: Pablo Picasso & Henri Matisse and then from there the list could go on forever…Wassily Kandinsky, Takashi Murakami, Agnes Martin, Julie Mehretu, Kehinde Wiley…it’s hard to pick a favorite!

• Your favorite musician?
Another tough one to narrow down. Arcade Fire, Serge Gainsbourg, Bat for Lashes, Beatles, Beirut, Cat Power, The Cure, Bob Dylan, The Decemberists, Duran Duran, Wilco, Jenny Lewis, Morrissey, Prince, Elliot Smith, Thom Yorke.

• The quality you most admire in a man?
Honesty & Sense of Humor

• The quality you most admire in a woman?
Stability & Sense of Humor

• Your favorite virtue?
Love

• Your favorite occupation?
Traveling & Designing

• Who would you have liked to be?
I find Cleopatra fascinating, it would have been wild to be in her shoes.

Yeojin Bae Interview

What kind of girl are you designing for?
This collection is very much for myself and my girlfriends. We love to dress up, wear something unique and appreciate beautiful fabrics and cut.

You worked for several notable designers like Marc Jacobs, etc. How did they influence you and what did you learn there?
I spent many years working for other designers and it was very exciting to see the design process of other creative people. I interned during a fun period at Marc Jacobs when they were setting up his diffusion line Marc.

When and why did you decide to launch your own label?
It really felt like now or never. I had built up so much experience over the last 14 years, but at age 30 felt ready to tackle my own business.

You love to travel–how does this inspire you and affect your designs?
Absolutely love to travel. My husband is from France so we go there a few times a year, and I love NY for its amazing energy. I have sourced lots of interesting fabrics and trims from India , Morocco and Budapest ..I think it’s important to see what is happening around the world.